May 1 Labor Day Demonstrations in France: What to Expect and Updates

Unmissable information

Day of movement on the streets: on May 1, which celebrates Labor Day and leading to the closure of various public places, several events are planned across France, with 120,000 to 150,000 participants expected. Marches have already started across the country, such as in Lille, Marseille, Grenoble, or even Reims, Montpellier and Avignon. In Paris, the main parade will leave République at 2pm to reach Bastille then Nation. In total, 12,000 police officers and gendarmes are deployed throughout France to monitor the demonstrations, including 5,000 in the capital. Motion to follow all day long on our special livelihood.

After May 1st qualified as “historic” in 2023, thanks to a series of well-attended demonstrations against pension reform, the marches should not be as crowded this year. As for the unions, which showed a united face last year, this year they chose different slogans and slogans, based on three main themes: for peace, a “more protected” Europe, and “against ‘austerity’ . The two main groups, the CFDT and the CGT, will march however side by side in Paris and in half of the parades.

In Saint-Étienne, Raphaël Glucksmann was banned from entering the parade at the end of the morning after spraying paint. Around fifty demonstrators attacked the leader of the socialist list for the European elections, shouting “Get out of him” or “Palestine will live”.

What to remember too

• Alert in the north and east of France: 14 regions are sent on orange warning for thunderstorms this tuesday, including the Ile-de-France region. Heavy rain, fog, lightning and heavy storms are expected in regions from Burgundy to Hauts-de-France between late this Wednesday afternoon and next night, according to Météo France. In general, the entire eastern half of the country, except for the edge of the Mediterranean, is marked as a yellow warning. Keraunos, the French observatory for tornadoes and violent storms, also expects the risk of tornadoes in the Middle East.
• “You were a nice boy, too nice even”: in a text full of sadness, the father of 15-year-old Matisse, paid tribute to his son on Tuesday he was stabbed to death last Saturday in Châteauroux, in Indre. The bereaved father recalls spending “15 wonderful years” with his son, and refuses to choose “hate and anger”, “legitimate options” but “would bring us down to the level of the two monsters who killed you coldly”. The teenager succumbed to his injuries after “a brawl involving two young people”. The alleged perpetrator of the beating is a young man of the same age, known to law and in academic difficulty.

• The situation continues in American universities between management students and pro-Palestinian students, which has been moving for two weeks to protest Israel’s response to Gaza. New York Police released overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday young people who had been in a building on the Columbia University campus since the night before. The establishment was at the heart of this protest movement, which led to acts of anti-Semitism according to the activists. In a letter to the police, the president of the university asks them to “maintain a presence on campus at least until May 17”. In addition, violence broke out on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.
• American literature loses one of its sacred monsters: the great writer Paul Auster he died at the age of 77. A prolific novelist, he was the author of over thirty books that have been translated into over 40 languages, including “Moon Palace”, “City of Glass” and “Leviathan”. It was with his “New York Trilogy”, dark novels inspired by the detective genre, that he became essential on the international scene, and especially in France, where he was published by Actes Sud. His wife announced in March 2023 that he was suffer from cancer lung, but despite the illness, he had finished one last book with a nostalgic tone, “Baumgartner”.

It worries you

As at the beginning of every month, the 1st of May brings this its share of new features and improvements, which affects French wallets. Starting this month, for example, it will be necessary payment of 100 euros pursue training through their personal training account (CPF). The fixed contribution, that is to say the contribution of the patient that is not subject to reimbursement from Health Insurance or joint health insurance, doubles, ranging from 1 to 2 euros from 15 May.

On the housing side, the conditions of access to MaPrimeRenov’changing, to allow special houses F and G, known as energy filters, to now benefit from support for their renovation. This May 1st also marks the last day for register online for the European elections, which will be held on June 9. In terms of income tax return, there will be several dates this month : you have until 21 May to fill in your income tax return via the paper form available at your home, until 23 May, 30 or 6 June depending on your region of residence if you want to complete process online.